Dainichi Nōnin
Dainichi(bō) Nōnin (大日房能忍) (fl. 1190s) was a Japanese monk who founded one of the earliest Zen schools in Japan, called the Darumashū, or "Bodhidharma school."[1][2]
While a monk with the Tendai school, Nōnin came across Zen texts which had been brought from China.[3]
Nōnin "is thought to have achieved awakening through his own study of scriptures and commentaries, rather than through any training with an established teacher."[2] He taught at the temple of Sanbōji in Suita (present-day Ōsaka prefecture) and established himself as a Zen master.[2]
In 1189, he dispatched two of his disciples to China to meet with Zhuóān Déguāng (拙庵德光, 1121–1203), himself a student of the Rinzai master Dahui Zonggao. The disciples presented a letter Nōnin had written describing his realization from practicing Zen on his own. Deguang apparently approved and sent a letter certifying Nōnin’s enlightenment.[3]
The Darumashū ("Bodhidharma school") apparently drew a number of followers, but in 1194 the Tendai establishment requested that the government have it shut down. The government accepted the proposal for the school "being 'incomprehensible' and circulating nonsense."[4]
After Nonin's death, his students eventually dispersed to study with Dōgen or Eisai. In fact, Koun Ejō and Tettsū Gikai, both prominent students of Dōgen to whom nearly all modern Soto Zen teachers trace their lineages, were originally students of Nonin's successors.[1] The transfer of Dogen to Echizen in 1243 may in part have been due "to the fact that the Daruma-shu had a strong following in that province".[5]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Dumoulin 2005.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. Dainichi Nōnin.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Dumoulin 2005, pp. 7-14.
- ↑ Matsunaga & Matsunaga 1988.
- ↑ Heine 2006, p. 17, quoting Faure.
Sources
Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University- Dumoulin, Heinrich (2005), Zen Buddhism: A History. Volume 2: Japan, World Wisdom Books, ISBN 9780941532907
- Heine, Steven (2006), Dogen and the precepts, revisited. In: Buddhist Studies From India To America: Essays In Honor Of Charles S. Prebish, Taylor & Francis
- Matsunaga, Alicia; Matsunaga, Daigan (1988), Foundation of Japanese Buddhism, Los Angeles: Buddhist Books International
Further reading
Nōnin, Wikipedia
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